Social Networking and Obesity, Part 5

Grand Velas Yoga and Pilates

All over the Web, people are sharing thoughts and emotions about their unhealthful and unnatural relationship with food, and especially their realization that food addiction is real. Unfortunately, many of these confessions are long on what the afflicted are “trying” and short on any revelations about what actually works. For instance, under the title of […]

Of Current Interest: MEND

Fast Food

If you are in the United Kingdom, you’re in the midst of the National Childhood Obesity Week (July 4-10), originated by a group called MEND, which stand for “Mind, Exercise, Nutrition… Do it!” Events planned for this year included a new MEND Olympics program. In general, MEND promotes services designed to offer long-term solutions, mainly […]

Chips = The Biggest Demon

Pickle Flavored Chips

We told you. Didn’t we tell you? Now, here is Alicia Chang saying the same thing, a propos of a Harvard University study which appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine. Its title is “Changes in Diet and Lifestyle and Long-Term Weight Gain in Women and Men,” and Chang, who frequently writes about science, […]

Think Tank Asks, What Works?

chemistry bottles with liquid inside

Housed at the School of Public Health and Health Services at George Washington University, a group is looking for innovative and practical ways to end the obesity epidemic. Its purpose statement says, The Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance is a collaboration of consumer, provider, government, labor, business, health insurers and quality-of-care organizations… […]

Yes, Parents Can Make a Difference

Kids playing

As parents, we have endless opportunities every day to guide our kids, and it would be a shame not to pick up on at least a few of them. Coach Ed Poirier of Attleboro, Massachusetts, recently published a piece called “Letting free range kids do their thing.” He brought home the phrase “free range kids” […]

What About Endocrine Disruptors?

Moo

Hormones control metabolism, growth, development, the function of tissues, and a person’s mood. We have specialized organs for the production of hormones, and, just to keep things interesting, other organs can also secrete hormones as their second job. Often they gang up and work together, in which case you get something as elaborate as, for […]

Prenatal Measures to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Reading Books

In advanced cases of overweight, up to and including morbid obesity, in teenagers and adults, the answer becomes clear. Many, many people are addicted to food in the same way an alcoholic or cocaine addict is hooked. They can only help themselves through interventions that adhere closely to the classical 12-step program, especially effective in […]

Many Find Gluten Addictive

Chocolate Cupcake at Meyerbeer's

Although “7 Worst Supermarket Rip-Offs” was first published by Men’s Health, authors David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding make it clear that they are passing along wisdom found in Eat This, Not That! Supermarket Survival Guide and Cook This, Not That! What wisdom might that be? The lowdown on a popular snack and an energy drink, […]

Live-In Addiction Programs and Permanent Change

Feets

Many live-in addiction treatment centers include food addiction in their agenda, and a place called Shades of Hope, located in Buffalo Gap, Texas, specializes in “eating disorders and co-occurring addictions.” Oprah Winfrey is profiling this center in her new series, “Addicted to Food.” Here is the center’s definition of food addiction: Food addiction is loss […]

Excitotoxins, Prescription Drugs, and Obesity

D&G

We have talked a lot about the Childhood Obesity Perfect Storm, Dr. Pretlow’s term for the concurrence of events that might not have been enough, by themselves, to start an epidemic, but which have a devastating effect when they pile up. Other medical professionals who treat and write about childhood obesity also point to a […]